Mavis Ada Tiller (; 25 November 1901 – 25 July 1989) was a New Zealand women's advocate, scientist and president of the

National Council of Women of New Zealand , logo = National Council of Women of New Zealand logo.png , logo_size = 100px , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , alt = , capt ...

(NCWNZ) from 1966 to 1970.

Early life and career

Tiller was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Her father worked for the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department for some years, but when she was young the family moved to London. Tiller attended Bedford College, London, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree (second class honours) in chemistry from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1923. After graduating she first worked as science mistress at the Roedean School, Johannesburg, and subsequently worked in the metallurgy department at the National Physical Laboratory in

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...

. In 1937 she married Leslie Tiller, a fellow New Zealander and scientist, at St Alban's Church. They returned to live in Wellington where they had a daughter, born in 1938, and two sons born in 1941 and 1944.

Activism

From the early 1950s, Tiller was involved with many organisations including the Wellington Mothers' Helpers Association, the Women's Migration and Overseas Appointments Society, the NCWNZ, the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

(ICW), and the United Nations Association of Wellington. From 1961 to 1966 she was the president of the Wellington branch of the NCWNZ, and in 1966 she represented New Zealand at the ICW conference in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. For nearly twenty years she was the president of the Wellington Mothers' Helpers Association and was awarded a life membership for her work. From 1966 to 1970 she served as the national president of the NCWNZ. She was instrumental in modernising the organisation and in establishing the Parliamentary Watch Committee, which became an effective advocate for women by making submissions on bills and discussion papers. In 1970 she led New Zealand's delegation to the ICW conference in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. In the

1971 Birthday Honours The 1971 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments to orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms to reward and highlight citizens' good works, on the occasion of the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. They were announced in supplemen ...

she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for this role. From 1973 to 1982 she served as the vice-convenor, then convenor, of the ICW's Standing Committee on International Relations and Peace. In 1976 she was made a life member of the NCWNZ, the highest award bestowed by the organisation. Also in that year, she received the

Adelaide Ristori Adelaide Ristori (29 January 18229 October 1906) was a distinguished Italian tragedienne, who was often referred to as the Marquise. Biography She was born in Cividale del Friuli, the daughter of strolling players and appeared as a child on the ...

Prize from the Italian Cultural Centre, a feminist organisation, for outstanding service. Tiller was appointed to the Royal Commission on Social Security in 1969, which reported in 1972. She was the only woman on the commission and the first woman to sit on a Royal Commission in New Zealand for 30 years. Historian Dorothy Page has said that it was only as a result of Tiller asking the National Development Council at a conference session, "Where are the women?", that

Miriam Dell Dame Miriam Patricia Dell ( Matthews; 14 June 1924 – 22 March 2022) was a New Zealand women's advocate, botanist and schoolteacher. She was the president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand from 1970 to 1974 and the first New Zea ...

was subsequently appointed as the first woman on the Council in 1969. In the

1987 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1987 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

Tiller was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for services to the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiller, Mavis 1901 births 1989 deaths New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand activists New Zealand women activists People from Wellington City Alumni of Bedford College, London Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)